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eG Food Blog: mgaretz (2011)

58 posts in this topic

This blog is going to be a very mixed bag! I’ll be eating out more than in a usual week (not because I’m blogging, it just worked out that way) and I also want to detail a fabulous meal/experience we had at the Napa Rose in Disneyland.

First, a little about me: I’m 58 and live in San Ramon, CA (East Bay of San Francisco) with my wife, Ellen, my 21-year-old daughter Rebecca and our dog Max. In my previous marriage, my ex did all the cooking and I did all the cleaning. I always had a good palate and was good at telling you what was in a dish and/or how to fix a dish that was lacking, but never really learned anything beyond very basic kitchen skills. My kids always dreaded the days when Dad had to cook!

From 1992 to 2003 I owned a beer and wine brewing shop and also a commercial microbrewery. I designed all of the recipes for the beer kits and most of the recipes for the microbrewery and they were very successful. Our IPA won Best of Show at the California State Fair, besting beers from all over the state including the big guys, and the smaller like Sierra Nevada. The next year we won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for the IPA and a Silver for our Red. In 1994 I wrote and published what is still the definitive (but now very dated) guide to using hops in craft brewing. (Bottom line: I always was good at creating recipes.)

I got divorced in early 2007 and during the break-up I was working at Best Buy as the appliance manager. Along with washers and dryers I was selling ranges, microwaves, ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators and counter-top appliances - helping people to outfit entire kitchens. When I bought and moved into my own (and current) place, finding one with a decent kitchen was paramount because I intended to learn how to cook! There were several motivations for that: I wanted my daughter (who was staying with me half time) to look forward to meals, not dread them. It would also allow me to better sell kitchen appliances. And it would save me a lot of money compared to eating out! I now do 99% of the cooking for the family, and my daughter lives with us full time - learning to cook had something to do with that!

So I enrolled in a 12 week cooking class at the now defunct Viking Cooking School in Walnut Creek and learned my way around the kitchen. I like the cooking part, but for me the joy is in creating recipes and tweaking someone else’s to my liking and/or methods.

I started to upgrade my cookware and counter-top appliances - but that will be the subject of another post!

The food I cook tends to be somewhat simple, comfort food. Normal stuff a family of picky eaters will eat! My plating skills are minimal, especially compared to some of you here.

Now I work as a graphic designer/marketing person/data analyst at a large financial firm. I also read palms as a sideline. My current hobbies besides cooking are playing bluegrass guitar and sewing/embroidery.

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This blog is going to be a very mixed bag! I’ll be eating out more than in a usual week (not because I’m blogging, it just worked out that way) and I also want to detail a fabulous meal/experience we had at the Napa Rose in Disneyland.

First, a little about me: I’m 58 and live in San Ramon, CA (East Bay of San Francisco) with my wife, Ellen, my 21-year-old daughter Rebecca and our dog Max. In my previous marriage, my ex did all the cooking and I did all the cleaning. I always had a good palate and was good at telling you what was in a dish and/or how to fix a dish that was lacking, but never really learned anything beyond very basic kitchen skills. My kids always dreaded the days when Dad had to cook!

From 1992 to 2003 I owned a beer and wine brewing shop and also a commercial microbrewery. I designed all of the recipes for the beer kits and most of the recipes for the microbrewery and they were very successful. Our IPA won Best of Show at the California State Fair, besting beers from all over the state including the big guys, and the smaller like Sierra Nevada. The next year we won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for the IPA and a Silver for our Red. In 1994 I wrote and published what is still the definitive (but now very dated) guide to using hops in craft brewing. (Bottom line: I always was good at creating recipes.)

I got divorced in early 2007 and during the break-up I was working at Best Buy as the appliance manager. Along with washers and dryers I was selling ranges, microwaves, ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators and counter-top appliances - helping people to outfit entire kitchens. When I bought and moved into my own (and current) place, finding one with a decent kitchen was paramount because I intended to learn how to cook! There were several motivations for that: I wanted my daughter (who was staying with me half time) to look forward to meals, not dread them. It would also allow me to better sell kitchen appliances. And it would save me a lot of money compared to eating out! I now do 99% of the cooking for the family, and my daughter lives with us full time - learning to cook had something to do with that!

So I enrolled in a 12 week cooking class at the now defunct Viking Cooking School in Walnut Creek and learned my way around the kitchen. I like the cooking part, but for me the joy is in creating recipes and tweaking someone else’s to my liking and/or methods.

I started to upgrade my cookware and counter-top appliances - but that will be the subject of another post!

The food I cook tends to be somewhat simple, comfort food. Normal stuff a family of picky eaters will eat! My plating skills are minimal, especially compared to some of you here.

Now I work as a graphic designer/marketing person/data analyst at a large financial firm. I also read palms as a sideline. My current hobbies besides cooking are playing bluegrass guitar and sewing/embroidery.

Off to work - will post more this evening.

You are inspiring! I love all of your diverse hobbies. I've never had my palm read....I might be scared to lol.

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hahaha! what a little blast from the past. i was a teacher at homechef(pasadena), a sf-based chain of cookware stores/cooking schools, which viking bought. i taught that 12-class basics series many, many times! i really think it gave a solid foundation for students, and was a great value. when homechef folded, i opened my own cooking school--that was 11 years ago. i still have students i met at homechef. will be looking forward to your postings, and to seeing some of those basics reflected in your meals!

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I too am looking forward to this week with great anticipation. I've also been involved in several diverse hobbies and avocations and have never been "bored" in my life.

The eating out venues are especially interesting as my daughter lives in Livermore and I plan a visit very soon.

The palm reading sounds like fun. The single time I had mine read, years ago when I had a booth at a Renaissance Faire, the reader told me I had the longest lifeline she had ever seen and I have hesitated to have it read again, in case the news was different!

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

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I too am looking forward to this week with great anticipation. I've also been involved in several diverse hobbies and avocations and have never been "bored" in my life.

The eating out venues are especially interesting as my daughter lives in Livermore and I plan a visit very soon.

The palm reading sounds like fun. The single time I had mine read, years ago when I had a booth at a Renaissance Faire, the reader told me I had the longest lifeline she had ever seen and I have hesitated to have it read again, in case the news was different!

Ok, now I HAVE to get my palm read.

I'm sure the reader would say something like "you are way too obsessed with food and cooking" lol.

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Your background sounds fascinating, and I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more. I do have to say - your avatar has an uncanny resemblance to my former boss, so it freaks me out a little every time I see it (no reflection on you or your appearance, of course )

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I'm back! Ok, let's get a few questions answered first. The brewery is no more, sad to say. I don't homebrew anymore, pretty much gave that up when I had 1000s of gallons of beer on hand and when packing/shipping/talking beer all day, the prospect of making it lost its appeal! (Lesson - don't turn a hobby into a business unless you're done enjoying the hobby!) In fact, I rarely drink beer any more - I now prefer a good red wine (a fruit-forward, jammy Zin please!).

Let's get breakfast and lunch out of the way. I'm pretty boring when it comes to these two - I pretty much eat the same breakfast and lunch every day. People don't understand how I can do that, but I think of it as medicine (which the fiber really is).

Breakfast is usually a cup of strong coffee and a peanut butter burrito, made with a low carb high fiber tortilla and extra chunky Skippy:

About 2 tbs of peanut butter:

Rolled up:

Everyone I know thinks these tortillas taste like cardboard, and I tend to agree, but I am used to them and they each have 12 grams of fiber! So I get some protein, fiber and caffeine to get my day started and it keeps me from snacking until lunch!

Weekdays, lunch is another of these burritos, celery and carrot sticks, an apple (Fuji's are my favorites) and a Coke Zero. Sometimes I get really daring and have a Cherry Coke Zero.

Weekends vary for lunch, but if I am home it will often be the burrito, coke and apple because I am usually too lazy to cut the celery and carrot sticks!

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I can relate to having the same things for certain meals; especially when times are very busy. It relieves stress to know that there is something you can grab that works for hunger and health. Are the relatively simple and calorie conscious breakfast and lunch your technique to explore and indulge more at dinner?

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So you know what I had for breakfast and lunch today! (Assume it's the same every day unless I tell you.)

Dinner tonight was left-overs! But it was from a great dinner from the night before. (Warning - most of my meals are not this involved - but my son was over for dinner and the matinee we wanted to see was sold out, so I had some extra time to make dessert.)

One of my most requested dishes (from family and friends) is my take on Carbonnade a la Flammande or Belgian Beef Stew. We spent a few weeks in Belgium (with side trips to London/Paris/Koln/Amsterdam/Antwerp and Bruge) in the summer of '09 and I fell in live with this dish. I had to sample it everywhere they had it on the menu. The best versions were made with a fruit flavored lambic - Kriek was my favorite, Framboise second (Cherry and Raspberry). I looked at a lot of recipes here but finally decided on a version from the CI folks - but of course I changed it up a lot and I make it in the slow cooker.

My mother-in-law is a Belgian and she approves of my recipe. Her comment was "I wish I could make it this good!"

It starts with 3 to 3.5 pounds of boneless short ribs:

(We get most of our meat from Costco.)

Cut into chunks about 3/4" wide:

I brown it on the stove in the pot from the slow cooker - one of the things I love about the All-Clad slow cooker with the aluminum insert. Here's all the meat browned:

While it's browning I cut up the onions (2 lbs) and carrots (1 lb):

The onions get sautéd next:

Then they get floured and cooked some more. Then the rest of the ingredients get added:

For the beer, I try to use Kriek, but I got a good deal on Pommé (apple) at Costco, so I used that and some chery preserves instead.

I served it with "retrograde" mashed potatoes from Modernist Cuisine and steamed broccoli:

The potatoes were just OK. I wouldn't bother again unless I was making a real pureé which is probably never going to happen! As advertised, they did reheat well tonight.

My son loves bluberries and blueberry pie is his favorite. I was too lazy at this point in the afternoon to make pie crust, so instead I made a crisp (of sorts). Blueberries with sugar, a kiss of allspice and nutmeg, a little lemon juice, and tapioca starch for thickner. Baked in ramekins. After cooling I sprinkled crushed, cinnamon-honey glazed almonds on top. Very tasty.

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hahaha! what a little blast from the past. i was a teacher at homechef(pasadena), a sf-based chain of cookware stores/cooking schools, which viking bought. i taught that 12-class basics series many, many times! i really think it gave a solid foundation for students, and was a great value. when homechef folded, i opened my own cooking school--that was 11 years ago. i still have students i met at homechef. will be looking forward to your postings, and to seeing some of those basics reflected in your meals!

Thanks Cherie. I was sorry to see the store/school close. (I still had a free class credit too!) I also took the knife skills class. My folks still live in Orange County (where I grew up) and we get down there about 8 times a year. And my son is about to move to Century City. He also loves to cook, and is pretty good, but I'll see if he wants to take any of your classes and maybe I can come too!

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I can relate to having the same things for certain meals; especially when times are very busy. It relieves stress to know that there is something you can grab that works for hunger and health. Are the relatively simple and calorie conscious breakfast and lunch your technique to explore and indulge more at dinner?

Partly for weight management, but I also need the fiber (since I don't normally eat a lot of carbs) and they give me enough protein to keep me from snacking (usually!).

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Your background sounds fascinating, and I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more. I do have to say - your avatar has an uncanny resemblance to my former boss, so it freaks me out a little every time I see it (no reflection on you or your appearance, of course )

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I'm on doctor's orders high fiber diet, so I get mine in with a bowl of Kashi GoLean Original with some fruit on top, either berries or a cut up peach or banana. Throw on one of those little cartons of organic vanilla milk and I've got my daily calcium in there too. And it doesn't taste like cardboard, it's actually delicious. Just an alternative thought in case you tire of the peanut butter burritos 2x daily...

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I'm on doctor's orders high fiber diet, so I get mine in with a bowl of Kashi GoLean Original with some fruit on top, either berries or a cut up peach or banana. Throw on one of those little cartons of organic vanilla milk and I've got my daily calcium in there too. And it doesn't taste like cardboard, it's actually delicious. Just an alternative thought in case you tire of the peanut butter burritos 2x daily...

Thanks Katie. I'm lactose intolerant, and the original Kashi has milk in it (but the "crunch" version doesn't). It has 8 grams of fiber, however it has 29 grams of other carbs - to get 12 grams of fiber like in the tortilla I'd be at 43 carbs vs. the 6 carbs in the tortilla.

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With regards to pureed potatoes - you should look at getting a potato ricer, like a big garlic press which you put the boiled potatoes into and then mix with the butter and a bit of hot milk, they come out perfect everytime...

"Experience is something you gain just after you needed it" ....A Wise man

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Thanks Katie. I'm lactose intolerant, and the original Kashi has milk in it (but the "crunch" version doesn't). It has 8 grams of fiber, however it has 29 grams of other carbs - to get 12 grams of fiber like in the tortilla I'd be at 43 carbs vs. the 6 carbs in the tortilla.

6 grams in the tortilla? Will have to see if those buggers are available up here. We're on a relatively lo-carb diet but I do miss some of the flexibility carb foods add.

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We are at the airport waiting to board our flight. As we seem to have interested folks from different parts of the world who may not know too much about our province, I thought I would start this blog by giving you an overview of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL).

Before Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, it was a British Colony. Cupids, a town on Conception Bay, was settled 406 years ago, and is the oldest continuously settled official British community in Canada. Most of the early permanent settlers came from southwest England and southeast Ireland although the French also settled here and in the 17th century Newfoundland was more French than English. French is still spoken in Port au Port Penninsula, on the western side of the island, with English spoken everywhere else. Just off the coast of south west Newfoundland, St. Pierre et Miquelon are islands that are still a colony of France. There is a regular ferry service between Fortune, NL and St. Pierre et Miquelon.

Geographically, the capital of St. John's is on the same latitude as Paris, France and Seattle, Washington. In size, Newfoundland and Labrador is a little smaller than California, slightly bigger than Japan and twice the size of the United Kingdon. NL covers 405,212 sq. kilometers (156,453 sq. miles) with over 29,000 kilometers (18,000 miles) of coastline. By itself, the island of Newfoundland covers 111,390 square kilometers (43,008 sq. miles).

The population of NL is 510,000, of whom 181,000 live in St. John's. While there are some larger towns, vast areas are sparsely populated.

In Newfoundland there are no snakes, skunks, racoons, poisonous insects or arachnids. There is also no ragweed - allergy sufferers rejoice! There are over 120,000 moose and it is home to one of the world's biggest caribou herds. They also have some of the continent's biggest black bears.

Note: This information was taken from the official Newfoundland and Labrador web site.

We had a wedding in the US but her family also wanted to have a traditional wedding in China. DH and I have never being to China so this was an exciting opportunity for us! We spent a few days in Beijing doing touristy stuff and then flew to Hailar. There is only one flight a day on Air China that we took at 6 in the morning. Yakeshi is about an hour drive from Hailar on a beautiful toll road with no cars on it. I wish we took pictures of free roaming sheep and cows along the way. The original free range meat.

The family met us at the airport. We were greeted with a shot of a traditional Chinese spirit from a traditional leather vessel. Nothing says welcome like a stiff drink at 9 AM. We were supposed to have a three shots (may be they were joking) but family took pity on us and limited it to one only.

Wow, this is my third foodblog for the eGullet…. Welcome! I'll be with you from Palm Sunday through Holy Sunday to give you all a taste of the veritable food festival that is Easter in Ecuador. As usual, I intend to eat on the streets, visit a plethora of small shops and vendors, and talk about (and eat copious amounts of ) the specialty dishes of the holiday.

A bit of background on me and where I am. I'm Elizabeth; I'm 33 years old and since the last foodblog I've ceased to be a Canadian expat in Ecuador, and become a full-fledged Ecuadorian citizen. I run a catering bakery out of Ambato, and I deliver to clients on the entire mainland. I've got a large customer base in nearby Baños de Agua Santa, a hot-springs town about an hour downslope of me to the east; I'll be visiting it on Wednesday with close to 100 kg of baked goods for delivery. Ambato, the capital of Tungurahua province, is located almost exactly in the geographic centre of Ecuador. It's at an average elevation of 2,850 meters above sea level (slightly higher than Quito, the capital) - but this is measured in the downtown central park, which is significantly lower than most of the rest of the city, which extends up the sides of the river valley and onto the high plain above. We've got what amounts to eternal late springtime weather, with two well-marked rainy seasons. Ambato has about 300,000 people in its metro area; it's the fourth largest city in the country. But maybe the most important thing about Ambato, especially to foodies, is that it's a transport hub for the country. Anything travelling just about anywhere has to pass through Ambato on the way; it gives us the largest, best-stocked food market in South America. I have simply staggering variety at my fingertips.

This view, which was a teaser for the blog, was taken from my rooftop terrazzo. It is a fraction of the panorama of the river valley that I see every morning, and since Easter is traditionally somewhat miserable weather-wise, the clouds stick to the hilltops. The barrio you can see in the middle distance is Ficoa, one of the most luxury districts in the city. Ambato is notable amongst Ecuadorian cities for having small fruit farms (300-500 m2) still operating within city limits and even within its most established barrios - it's from this that the Ambato gets one of its two sobriquets: The City of Fruits and Flowers. The tendency for even the poorest barrios to take tremendous pride in their greenspaces gives the other: The Garden City. My barrio, Miraflores Alto, is a working-class mixture of professors and labourers, and my neighbours keep a mixture of chickens, turkeys, and ducks in their yards; someone down the hill has a cow that I frequently hear but have never seen. Consequently, if the season is right I can buy duck eggs from my neighbours (and if the season is wrong, entire Muscovy ducks for roasting.)

Today, I'll be doing my largest fresh-food shopping at the Mercado Mayorista, the largest market of its kind in South America - this place covers nearly 30 square blocks, and it exists to both buy and sell produce from across the country. Sundays and Mondays it also opens up to a huge, raucous farmer's market where smaller quantities are available for purchase. Sunday is the day of the freshest food and the largest number of vendors. And I'm going to cross more than half the city to get there - I've moved since the last blog, and my new house, on the slopes of the river valley is further away than the old one on the high plain. I promise to take many pictures of this - particularly close to the High Holy days, the Mayorista is alive with vendors and there will be special sections cordoned off for sales of bacalao, truly enormous squashes, and if it follows the previous years' trends, a festival of Hornado (about which more later). Apart from mangoes, which are just finishing up their season, it is harvest time across the country, and the Mayorista will be well stocked with all manner of fruits and vegetables.

To start us off, I'll demystify one of my teasers a bit.

The Minion head that peeks out of my cupboard every day belongs to my jar of ChocoListo, the Ecuadorian equivalent of chocolate Ovaltine. Since I gave up coffee for Lent, it's my go-to morning beverage. ChocoListo normally comes in the plain white jar with orange lid that you see in front of the Minion; that's now my hot chocolate jar because I just couldn't resist when the company came out with the specialty jars. I firmly believe that one is never too old to have whimsical things!

Good morning, y’all, and welcome to the party chez Therese.
As per the teaser, this week’s foodblog does indeed come to you from Atlanta, where I live with my two children (hereafter known as Girl and Boy) and husband (hereafter known as The Man). Girl is 11, Boy is 14, and The Man is old enough to know better.
Atlanta’s huge: the total metro population is about 4 million, and there are no physical boundaries to growth like rivers or mountain ranges, so people just keep moving (and commuting) farther and farther out of town. Atlantans can be divided into ITP (inside the perimeter) and OTP (outside the perimeter), the perimeter referring to the interstate freeway that encircles the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods, separating it from outlying suburbs. The politically minded may note that these areas could be designated red and blue. I’ll let you figure out which is which.
We’re about as ITP as it gets, with home, work, school, and restaurants all in walking distance. The neighborhood’s called Druid Hills, the setting for the play/movie “Driving Miss Daisy”. The houses date from the 1920s, and because Atlanta has so little in the way of “old” buildings the neighborhood’s on the National Register as a Historic District. Charming, sure, buts lots of the houses need some updating, and ours (purchased in 1996) was no exception. So we remodeled last year, including an addition with a new kitchen, and this week’s blog will look at the finished product.
So, some encouragement for those of you presently involved in kitchen renovation, some ideas for those who are considering it.
But never mind all that for the moment: What’s for breakfast?

Dutch babies, that’s what. And even better, these Dutch babies are produced by my children, the aforementioned Girl and Boy. The first picture is right from the oven, the second is after the somewhat messy job of sifting powdered sugar on top. They are delicious (the Dutch babies, I mean, not the children) and a great weekend treat.

The Man drinks coffee in the morning whereas I prefer tea. He's not up yet, having played poker last night. I'm hoping he makes it out of bed in time for dinner.

I also eat fruit whereas he prefers, well, anything but fruit. This is not such a bad thing, as it means that I don’t have to share the fruit. Pomegranates are a pain to eat, but not so bad if you’re reading the newspaper at the same time. This one’s from California, but you can also grow them here if you’ve got enough sunshine (which I don’t).

This is VERY spur-of-the-moment. I was sitting here yesterday thinking of all of the canning etc. that I needed to do this week and I thought, well, why not ask you guys if you want to spend the week with me while I do it? I got the ok from Smithy so away we go!

This will not be nearly as organized as my first blog was. But, really, when does a sequel ever measure up to the first?

Most of you know all about me--if you missed my first blog you can read it here.

Nothing much has changed around here. Same furry babies, same house, same husband .

Right now we have field corn planted all around the house. In the outer fields we have soybeans that were planted after the wheat was harvested. Sorry for the blur....it was so humid the camera kept fogging up.

I just came in from the garden.

I snapped a few pictures....for more (and prettier) pictures you can look in the gardening thread. I always start out saying that I will not let a weed grow in there. By August I'm like..."Oh what's a few weeds" lol.

I killed the cantaloupes...and I tried damn hard to kill the squash lol.....sigh...squash bugs came early this year and we sprayed with some kind of stuff. WOW the plants did not like it, but they've come back and are producing.